I've known for some time that faith is important to Jesus, but somehow along the way, I allowed the act of doing to gain inordinate importance in my walk with Jesus. As I spend time looking closely, deeply and reflectively at what Jesus says in the Gospels, I'm struck with the fact that what pleases Jesus is not action but strong faith. Take the example of the centurion and his servant that required healing. He knew that Jesus didn't have to travel to his home to heal the servant and told Jesus this. In response to seeing this profound faith, Jesus gave this centurion one of the highest compliments during His 3 year sojourn on this earth!
In contrast, what seems most to frustrate Jesus was lack of faith, not lack of action. Right after the transfiguration, when Jesus and the 3 disciples came down from the mountain, Jesus was faced with the situation that the disciples that did not go up the mountain were unable to cure a young boy controlled by an unclean spirit. In frustration at what is called their lack of faith, Jesus proclaimed "Oh unbelieving generation, how long will I be with you". Jesus was frustrated by the weak faith of His followers.
I find myself living in a society that thrives on action, accomplishment and goals. On the one hand it shouldn't surprise me...it is the world. Yet I can't escape it and so often I get drawn into the same thinking that tells me that if I really want to be a "successful" Christian I must achieve in action.
That is not the way of Jesus. First and foremost, He is concerned that we have faith...lot's of it! Then, as He tells the disciples later in the 9th chapter of Mark, to be first in the kingdom is to be last, and to be greatest in the kingdom is to be a servant.
We don't achieve in the kingdom of God in the same way we achieve in the world.
We achieve in the kingdom of God by having faith and out of that faith seeking to serve those around us.
Sunday, February 17, 2013
Sunday, January 27, 2013
The Interior Life
I've been a Christian for over 35 years, and I hate to admit how many of those years were spent thinking that the mot important thing in my Christian walk was attaining knowledge about God, rather than knowledge "of" God. There is a difference and I've been too slow to recognize that difference and pursue the latter.
We cannot attain knowledge of God without experiencing Him. We experience God to the degree that we seek to spend time with Him. It's really not that difficult to understand. We can attain a huge amount of knowledge about another person, but we only really get to know that person by spending time with them. It isn't any different with God.
Yet in spite of knowing that, I've not spent nearly as much time "with" the Lord as I should. I've fallen into the deadly trap of putting off prayer, meditation, and "being" with Him in order to pursue what I thought at the time were more important things...like accomplishing the "to do" list for the day. I've got plenty of days when I accomplished all and more of what was on my to do list...but not enough days when I spent adequate time experiencing the Lord. It should be the other way around.
But as in many things in the Christian walk, there is no good in spending much time in regret except to enable and enhance my commitment to make the necessary change.
This world seems increasingly built upon the predication that importance is directly related to accomplishment. May I work more diligently to develop the countercultural thinking that accomplishment is not nearly as important as the development of the interior life of relating to the Lord. May I realize that all true accomplishment arises from an interior life that is vitally connected with the living God. Therefore, rather than sacrificing time in prayer, meditation, and communion with God in order to get to "accomplishing", I must sacrifice the feeling and high of accomplishment to focus on that which is truly important...becoming more like Christ.
It is not as easy as it sounds...especially if you've spent a lifetime living in that pattern. But I can hardly think of anything more important. Do I want to come to the end of my life with a long list of accomplishments that really don't matter...or do I want to come to the end of my life having drawn close to the One who made me?
Put that way...there really is no choice...
We cannot attain knowledge of God without experiencing Him. We experience God to the degree that we seek to spend time with Him. It's really not that difficult to understand. We can attain a huge amount of knowledge about another person, but we only really get to know that person by spending time with them. It isn't any different with God.
Yet in spite of knowing that, I've not spent nearly as much time "with" the Lord as I should. I've fallen into the deadly trap of putting off prayer, meditation, and "being" with Him in order to pursue what I thought at the time were more important things...like accomplishing the "to do" list for the day. I've got plenty of days when I accomplished all and more of what was on my to do list...but not enough days when I spent adequate time experiencing the Lord. It should be the other way around.
But as in many things in the Christian walk, there is no good in spending much time in regret except to enable and enhance my commitment to make the necessary change.
This world seems increasingly built upon the predication that importance is directly related to accomplishment. May I work more diligently to develop the countercultural thinking that accomplishment is not nearly as important as the development of the interior life of relating to the Lord. May I realize that all true accomplishment arises from an interior life that is vitally connected with the living God. Therefore, rather than sacrificing time in prayer, meditation, and communion with God in order to get to "accomplishing", I must sacrifice the feeling and high of accomplishment to focus on that which is truly important...becoming more like Christ.
It is not as easy as it sounds...especially if you've spent a lifetime living in that pattern. But I can hardly think of anything more important. Do I want to come to the end of my life with a long list of accomplishments that really don't matter...or do I want to come to the end of my life having drawn close to the One who made me?
Put that way...there really is no choice...
Sunday, January 06, 2013
The essence of change as a Christian
I've been a Christian for almost 40 years...and I still regularly try to improve myself in the same way that the world prescribes.
You see, the world would tell you that in order to change, you must work to alter a particular behavior. You must either fight against it, or you must work to bring it out more. For instance, almost everyone agrees that we should "become more patient" as we mature. In order to achieve that, the world says that we should work hard in ourselves to foster patience...to seek patience...to TRY to be more patient.
Unfortunately, with lot of hard work, we can achieve some success in this way. However, this is not how the Bible or the Lord taught us how to change.
The Lord's method for change is radically different than this. In fact, it's not only radically different, His method itself is radical. It can be summed up in His words to His disciples..."take up your cross and follow me."
Jesus never tells us that we should work hard to develop one characteristic or suppress an unwanted characteristic. Instead, He tells us to take up an instrument of death...the cross...in order to destroy that part of us in which our negative characteristics reside.
The way of Jesus is to destroy our flesh, not to change it.
The way of the cross is that I become more patient as my flesh is increasingly destroyed and the Holy Spirit within me can express that patience more through me. With the Holy Spirit residing within me, I have the ability to show perfect patience. but my flesh prevents it from being seen.
Let me try a word picture. The Bible tells us that we are vessels with the capacity to carry the Holy Spirit within us. Those who establish a close trusting relationship with Christ are given the Holy Spirit who comes to reside in us.
But frankly, within each of us, there are characteristics that don't mix well with the Holy Spirit. This would include our self-centeredness, our desire for control as well as our wrong desires. The Bible calls that part of us our flesh. Since our flesh is most often what the world around us sees, it is like the lining of the vessel we call us. That discolored lining prevents the world from seeing the Holy Spirit. Paul tells us in Galatians that the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness and self control. All things we should want to exhibit. The problem is, we are all trying to make our flesh more loving, joyful, peaceful etc. I don't know about you, but with me it really isn't working all that well.
If instead, we were to allow the Lord to scrape away the flesh from within us, the natural fruit of the Holy Spirit can shine through.
It's hard to remember though...I'm constantly trying to change the flesh within me instead of just allowing God to destroy it.
We truly change through the process of dying...not the process of trying.
You see, the world would tell you that in order to change, you must work to alter a particular behavior. You must either fight against it, or you must work to bring it out more. For instance, almost everyone agrees that we should "become more patient" as we mature. In order to achieve that, the world says that we should work hard in ourselves to foster patience...to seek patience...to TRY to be more patient.
Unfortunately, with lot of hard work, we can achieve some success in this way. However, this is not how the Bible or the Lord taught us how to change.
The Lord's method for change is radically different than this. In fact, it's not only radically different, His method itself is radical. It can be summed up in His words to His disciples..."take up your cross and follow me."
Jesus never tells us that we should work hard to develop one characteristic or suppress an unwanted characteristic. Instead, He tells us to take up an instrument of death...the cross...in order to destroy that part of us in which our negative characteristics reside.
The way of Jesus is to destroy our flesh, not to change it.
The way of the cross is that I become more patient as my flesh is increasingly destroyed and the Holy Spirit within me can express that patience more through me. With the Holy Spirit residing within me, I have the ability to show perfect patience. but my flesh prevents it from being seen.
Let me try a word picture. The Bible tells us that we are vessels with the capacity to carry the Holy Spirit within us. Those who establish a close trusting relationship with Christ are given the Holy Spirit who comes to reside in us.
But frankly, within each of us, there are characteristics that don't mix well with the Holy Spirit. This would include our self-centeredness, our desire for control as well as our wrong desires. The Bible calls that part of us our flesh. Since our flesh is most often what the world around us sees, it is like the lining of the vessel we call us. That discolored lining prevents the world from seeing the Holy Spirit. Paul tells us in Galatians that the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness and self control. All things we should want to exhibit. The problem is, we are all trying to make our flesh more loving, joyful, peaceful etc. I don't know about you, but with me it really isn't working all that well.
If instead, we were to allow the Lord to scrape away the flesh from within us, the natural fruit of the Holy Spirit can shine through.
It's hard to remember though...I'm constantly trying to change the flesh within me instead of just allowing God to destroy it.
We truly change through the process of dying...not the process of trying.
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